The Society of Folk Dance Historians
Bosnia-Hercegovina
a country
Background:
Location: Balkan Peninsula, southeastern Europe
Regions: Bosnia originally was bounded by the Sava, Drina, and Una rivers.
Languages: Bosnian, a Slavic language
Religions: predominantly Muslim
History:
Roman, then contended for by Hungary and Byzantium. Center of mediaeval Bogomil heresy. Fell to Ottomans in 15th cty.
Austrian protectorate in 1878, annexation in 1908, Given to Yugoslavia in 1918.
Rural v. urban (rather than the less substantial Muslim v. Slav division: Muslim Bosnians are Slavs, and Catholics, Orthodox, and Muslims all live in both urban and rural settings. Rural Muslims have their own music (though they appreciate urban sevdalinke.)
Rural singing: "Mountain Weird Stuff" that Minja teaches, with non-tempered intervals. Actually, na bas style (cadence on a major fifth instead of major second) is increasingly tempered. Accompanied by a violin and a saz / sharkija / sargia in a narrow range, singing in parallel fourths or fifths, with a similar double-stopped playing on the fiddle. Sometimes 2 violins, sometimes 2 woman singers and a man sargija player. Said to be a Bosanska Posavina (Sava River valley in northern Bosnia) tradition that spread into the mountains and is practiced by the three major Bosnian ethnic groups, Muslim, Serbian, Croatian, with regional rather than ethnic styles.
Urban singing: sevdalinke (songs of sevdah, unrequited love) and similar styles (poravne pjesme - classic broad songs in a ponderously slow 3/4), sung by Muslims, Serbians, Croatians, and Sephardic Jews, founded on Turkish singing with Austrian, Serbian, Croatian and other overlays. Only the saz (with roughly diatonic to roughly chromatic fretting) survived into the 20th cty, accompanied now by violin and accordion-led ensembles, occasionally using tamburictsa instruments. Doesn't have the parallel fourths or fifths. Sevdalinke singers: Nada Mamula / Mamoula (husband was Yugoslav Navy ranking officer), Safet Isovic, Himzo Polovina (died of cancer), Zaim Imamovic, Rade Mladenovic, Zehra Deovic, Beba Selimovic and Hamid Ragipovic-Besko. Older sevdalinke singers (accompanied by saz) are Emina Ahmedhodzic-Zecaj and Avdo Vrabac. After WWII, RTB (Beograd) narodni orchestra director Carevac promoted Bosnian urban music and singers throughout Serbia. Jugoton (Zagreb) recorded the principle Bosnian singers and distributed across Yugoslavia. Many Bosnians worked in Croatia for the standard of living and employment, Bosnian music appeared in Croatian public places.
Why are there few Bosnian dances in the IFD repertoire?
Few Bosnian teachers and lack of any charismatic Bosnian teacher, although Minja has popularized Bosnian singing, and Ankica Petrovic and Mansur Hatic tour.
Unusual music
Serb and Croat Bosnians comprise the majority of the few Bosnian immigrants to North America, and they prefer the Serb music of RTB and the tamburitsa music of the North American Yugoslav immigrant community, a community which fed Beliajus, Herman, Crum, and Filcich.
Lack of state-sponsored Bosnian ensembles in the former Yugoslavia
Establishment of Glamoch as THE Bosnian dance precluded other dances in other state-sponsored ensembles.
Documents:
Brown, James Duff. Characteristic Songs and Dances of all Nations, ed. with historical notes and a bibliography by James Duff Brown; the music arranged for the pianoforte by Alfred Moffat. London: Bailey & Ferguson, 1901, 1921, 286p. (OCLC 29110039).
Includes a Bosnian Dance, p.74.
Ah, Teško je umr'jeti, song
Aman's Sarajevo medley: Treskavica Sitna, etc., a dance medley
Andjelija vodu n'jela, song
Bosansko kolo
BOSNIA: echoes from an endangered world, a CD from Smithsonian Folkways, SF 40407
Bosnian suite by Vaso Popovic
Bosno Moja, a fast sevdalinka (urban song), probably the most famous recording is by Nada Mamula
Charlama, a dance
Čim si, dušo, vrijeme kratiš, song
Crven fesic, a popular song
Dolinom se šetala, song
Drumovi, a CD by Zhabe i Babe and Ansambl Teodosijevski, Bison Publishing, BP 110857
Jarko sunce odskočilo, song
Kad Ja Podjoh Na Bembasu a sevdalinka (urban song)
Kafu mi draga, a popular song
Košutice vodu pile, song
Macino kolo
Meho Alic, Bosnian dance teacher, a recent immigrant from Sarajevo, former director of UNIS ensemble, Sarajevo
Muamar Borgovac, urban Muslim singer, accompanying himself on saz.
Mujo Kuje, a fast sevdalinka (urban song) popularized by Nada Mamula
Ne klepeci nanulama, a popular song
Omer beze, a very fast sevdalinka (urban song)
Pala magla, song
Pastirče, mlado i milo, song
Pop Marinko, a dance
Pošla cura na vodu, song
Silent Kolo/Staro Bosansko Kolo/Glamoc
S'one strane Jajce (Plive), a song based on a Sufi ilahi
Urban Muslim couple dances from the KUD repertoire, filmed by Lynn
U Shest variants by recent Bosnian immigrants
U Stambolu, na Bosporu, from: Pjesmom Kroz Našu Domovinu 2. Kršek, Ivan, 1972.
Zapevala sojka ptica
Zeleni se gaj, song